Archdemon of the displaced

by Megaphiles

Diabolic dinner

Gaismagorm was making his way through a narrow cave system, his massive frame grinding against the walls as he slowly forced a path forward. A strange, dark tune echoed around him, warped by the tunnel’s echo.

🎵 "I’m digging a hole, digging a hole... I am dragon and I'm digging a hole... Digging a hole, dig—"

Suddenly, he burst through a wall of stone, landing in a much wider cavern. It was big enough for him to finally stretch out his limbs. There was even a hole in the ceiling, letting a warm shaft of sunlight pour in.

“Maybe I should take a second to rest. It's been a while since I—” he paused mid-thought, a sensation crawling up from deep within. Hunger.

In his previous life, hunger had been an all-too-familiar feeling. Despite his big appetite, his income had always forced him into cheap, small meals. Minimum wage was a bitch.

"Great," he muttered. "I’m hungry now. And if my memory of Monster Hunter lore is right, I can only properly feed through the Qurio…”

He slowly started getting immersed in his thoughts. Feeding wasn’t just about survival. As an Elder Dragon, every step he took risked destabilizing the local ecosystem. If he started hunting openly, it would bring attention—hunters' attention.

“I got an idea...” he said aloud, glancing up at the ceiling. The Qurio, ever-attentive, immediately understood his intent.

“GO.”

The swarm surged upward through the hole in the ceiling, disappearing into the sky in a writhing red cloud. Gaismagorm couldn’t see what happened next, but he could hear it.

---

A hydra roared as the red mist poured from the treetops, swirling unnaturally. It had never seen creatures like these and mistook them for some strange variant of a giant jellyfish. But its confusion didn't last.

The Qurio descended like a plague. They latched onto the hydra’s scaly hide, biting and burrowing. The beast howled in pain and tried to flee, smashing through trees as it convulsed. Some Qurio fell off, unable to bite deep enough—but that only allowed them to spread.

A cockatrice, a chimera, and a manticore became their next targets.

The cockatrice turned a few into stone, but it was quickly overwhelmed by their sheer numbers and drained dry. The manticore thrashed, slamming its head into a tree, its blood’s scent drawing even more Qurio. A nearby timberwolf approached in confusion, only to be viciously mauled by the now-rabid manticore.

The chimera was no luckier. It bellowed in agony, its snake head tearing at the Qurio on its back, even as it injured itself trying to remove them. The parasites didn’t discriminate on their targets. Small or large, anything warm and alive was fair game.

---

Back in the cave, Gaismagorm heard the distant roars and screams echoing across the sky. The light above had shifted—reddened by the swarm’s unnatural presence.

“Now the hunters won’t be able to track me,” he whispered. “Once they’ve scattered enough chaos, I’ll recall them and move somewhere else. Then I’ll do it again.” He chuckled to himself.

“I am so smart. I am smart! S-M-R-R-T-A!” he joked, deliberately misspelling the word in reference to The Simpsons. It was hard to take things too seriously when you’d suddenly become a video game boss.

---

“Come on, girls. If the data is right, whatever caused the earthquakes must be this way,” said Twilight as the other members of the Mane Six (all carrying bags filled with essentials) followed.

“Are you sure it went deep into the Everfree Forest?” asked Fluttershy.

“I’m sure of it,” affirmed Twilight as she pulled out a device that scanned the ground and immediately began to beep. The remaining seismic activity was still extremely strong.

“So… any idea what could have caused whatever that was?” asked Applejack as she reached for her lasso.

“No idea. I’ve read about myths of monsters that go underground, but never anything able to cause such a big and long earthquake. Whatever caused that must have been around twice the size of an Ursa Minor to pull it off,” said Twilight, as the leftover seismic activity detected by the device slowly became more intense.

“So… an underground Ursa Major?” asked Pinkie Pie.

“An Ursa Major is about ten times bigger than a normal Ursa. If it was the size of a Major, there wouldn’t have been any of Ponyville left,” explained Twilight, while Pinkie simply went, “Uhm,” as Twilight continued.

“I don’t care if this creature’s in the storybooks or not—I'm making it pay for scaring Sweetie Belle and me half to death, and for ruining all the work Trixie hadn’t already ruined. It even ruined the work Trixie had already ruined!” said Rarity angrily.

Then, a loud roar startled the Mane Six, who immediately prepared to fight. The sound of branches snapping and something massive hitting the trees echoed around them, accompanied by wild roars.

Suddenly, a chimera burst out of the trees, roaring in pain with all three of its heads.

“DEAR CELESTIA!” shouted Twilight as the monster dragged itself toward them. Pinkie fired her party cannon, and Applejack tried to lasso its hind legs. The chimera collapsed onto its belly but continued struggling.

The goat head shot fire almost reflexively, accidentally burning the paws and face of the tiger part of its body. But the fire had the desired effect—it kept most of the Mane Six at a safe distance. All except Rarity, of course.

Rarity pulled a piece of cloth from her bag and wrapped it around the goat’s mouth. However, it didn’t stop the creature, as the tiger's claws and snakehead continued to thrash erratically.

“My turn!” said Pinkie Pie, throwing a caramel candy at the snakehead. It paused, confused for a moment, but soon resumed its frenzy. However, the caramel’s stickiness kept the snakehead partially glued to the chimera’s body.

“Alright, we just need to immobilize the—” Twilight was interrupted by Rainbow Dash, who tackled the chimera into a tree.

“You know what? Good enough for me,” Twilight said as Applejack ran up to the dazed monster and roped its four limbs together. But even then, the creature began moving again.

The Mane Six braced for another round of combat, but the monster let out a moan in a more normal voice before whispering, “It hurts,” as if it could barely speak.

That stopped them in their tracks. The chimera began to cry, tears streaming from its goat and tiger eyes.

“If the chimera is anything like its parts… that must mean it’s in pain,” said Fluttershy as the creature coughed, then violently snapped at the air.

“After that kick I gave it? Of course it’s in pain,” said Rainbow Dash with a sly smirk.

“No, I mean… it’s been in constant pain,” Fluttershy said. She took a cautious step forward and gasped as she noticed reddish, leech-like creatures latched onto the chimera’s limbs, back, and belly.

“Ugh, what are those things?” asked Rainbow Dash.

“They look like head accessories… but bigger and made of flesh,” said Rarity, momentarily fascinated by the idea of fashioning accessories based on them—before recoiling in disgust at their appearance.

“They look like gummies,” added Pinkie Pie.

“They look like leeches… but I’ve never seen leeches with that color or those weird… wings?” Fluttershy said. She gently touched one of them, making the chimera roar in agony.

“I know it’s a monster… but I think we should help her,” she added even wincing at the sound of an animal in distress.

Twilight sighed. She wanted to keep investigating the earthquake, but she knew a life—especially one suffering like this—had to come first.

So the Mane Six did what they could to restrain the chimera, then began dragging her toward a veterinary clinic.

Comments

[retfark95]

Yogscast dwarf digging song recognised.

[ItsJustAClint]

“So… any idea what could have caused whatever that was?” Asked applejack as she reached for her lasso “No idea, I’ve read about myths of monsters that go underground but never something able to cause such a big and long earthquake, and whatever caused that must have been around twice the size of a Ursa minor to achieve it” said Twilight as the left over seismic activity caught by the device is slowly becoming more intense

You could had just said that it was in the same size as an Ursa Major (big mama of the Minor from same episode).